The Struggle
by TearsBehindClosedDoors
Summary: When Bulma walks in on something she wasn't supposed to see, Vegeta must enter a struggle to save himself and his family. Contains drugs.


Disclaimer: I own nothing.

A/N: Warning, this deals with drugs.

Chapter One:

Everything was done with a steady, practiced hand. Hot liquid slowly filled a vial, attached to a syringe. The needle was placed on the table along with a length of rubber. The man sighed and slouched in the chair beside the objects.

His body was craving the liquid, calling out for it to fill his veins. He shook his head and sat up straighter. He took the rubber and tied it around his left bicep. With the tourniquet in place he searched for a vein. He rubbed and patted at the skin until finally a line appeared on the inside of his elbow.

With his other hand, he picks up the needle. He aligns the needle with the vein. Just as he is about to pierce his skin, a voice screams at him.

"Vegeta!"

~*~*~*~

Outside the Gravity Room, Bulma came bearing food for her husband. In the month since Majin Buu, Vegeta had been a bit more open about his feelings, and Bulma couldn't be happier. As she neared the GR she realized she didn't hear the hum, which meant the GR was turned off. Shaking her head she put it out of her mind, thinking Vegeta must just be out flying around, or training somewhere else today.

"Well," she said to herself, "I'll just leave the food in the kitchen in the GR, he's sure to find it then." So, carrying the tray, she walked into the GR and went down the hall from the main training room to the kitchen beyond.

As she neared the kitchen doorway, she saw someone sitting at the table. 'Who is that, and how did they get in here,' she wondered. She took a few steps closer, trying to be quiet. Finally she caught a glimpse of who sat at the table. 'Vegeta,' she thought.

Just before she called out to him, wondering why he wasn't training, she saw the needle in his hand. Her breath caught in her throat. Her hand rose and covered her mouth, dropping the tray of food. As the sound of breaking dishes started, she called out,

"Vegeta!"

~*~*~*~

Vegeta's head snapped up, turning to look at the doorway where the shout had come from. Standing there was Bulma, hand covering her mouth, tears in her eyes, surrounded by broken dishes. He put the needle down on the table and stood up. His mouth opened and closed as he tried to say it wasn't what it looked like, as he tried to say anything. Bulma beat him too it.

"Tell me you're not doing drugs, Vegeta," she begged, "Please tell me this isn't what it looks like." Vegeta said nothing, just hung his head. "Oh, God, Vegeta." She started to cry. "You're doing drugs? But, how, why, I don't understand!" She started to scream.

"How could you? How could you do this to me, to our son? Drugs mess with your mind. You could have hurt yourself! You could have hurt us!" A pained expression fled across his features when he realized the truth of this statement. "What if Trunks had found you?" she continued, "What would you have said to him? Damn it, Vegeta!"

She fell to her knees, sobs wracking her body. Vegeta slowly moved in front of her and dropped to his knees as well. He brought his arms up and placed his hands on her shoulders. She shrugged them off, and continued to yell.

"What if you died? What would we do then? Our lives would be empty. You're Trunks's hero." At this point she started to hit his chest, still crying. It wasn't hurting him, so Vegeta did nothing to stop her. He let her get her emotions out. "How would I explain to him that his daddy died of a drug overdose? God, Vegeta!" She stopped and slumped against him. He put his arms around and rubbed her back. After a while she brought herself under control.

Pulling back from Vegeta's embrace, she sat on her heels. He wasn't looking at her, so she cupped his cheek and lifted his head. Pain, worry, sorrow and self-disgust were all present in his eyes. She sighed, her eyes closing and forehead pressing against Vegeta's. She opened her eyes and looked straight into his.

"Please, Vegeta, please promise me that you will try to quit this stuff," she said.

"I'll try, Bulma," he replied, "I will try, but I don't know how successful I'll be. The withdrawal…" He trailed off. "It's painful and long. There are convulsions and seizures, I could hurt you without meaning to. There is also a high fever, which causes delusions. I could hurt someone, kill someone, without meaning to because of what I might see."

"Don't worry, Vegeta," Bulma said, "We'll call Goku over. He can stop you from hurting yourself or anyone else. We'll send Trunks over to my parent's house. They'll take him for …How long is the withdrawal period?"

"Around two weeks," He answered.

" Okay, we'll send Trunks to my parents, and call Goku over here. We'll have him tell all the other fighters that your sick and your power might fluctuate. That's why Goku is here, just in case something goes wrong. That works," Bulma always did much better with a plan. "Okay, let's go call my parents." Bulma stood up, and with Vegeta following her, they walked into the house.

_**A/N: The rest of the chapters are written, I just have to type them up. It isn't a long story. **_


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